Kris Versteeg was among the scoring leaders early in the season but has had only one assist in his last 12 games to give him 22 goals and 49 points in 65 games. Tomas Fleischmann leads the Panthers in goals with 24 and points with 56, one point ahead of linemate Stephen Weiss. Erik Gundbranson is a team worst minus-18, but look for the rookie to have plenty of good seasons in his future. Jose Theodore has been terrific for the Panthers this season with a 22-14-9 record, a .921 save percentage and a 2.35 GAA. Former second round pick Drew Shore has signed an entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers.

LOS ANGELES

Games this week

vs. Edmonton, vs. San Jose, @ San Jose

Notes

The Kings finish the season with a home-and-home series with the Sharks. Things could get rough so look for Kyle Clfford and Mike Richards to get some penalty minutes. Justin Williams has continued his hot play of late with nine points in his last nine games. Los Angeles GM Dean Lombardi doesn’t think that Simon Gagne will return this season from a concussion suffered in late December. In the topsy-turvy Pacific division the Kings went from third to ninth with a loss to the Bruins and then to seventh when they shut out the Flames on Wednesday. Jeff Carter is out with an ankle injury. Both he and Mike Richards are in slumps with neither scoring in the last four games.

MINNESOTA

Games this week

@ Nashville, vs. Chicago, vs. Phoenix

Notes

The Wild are rested on Saturday when they take on the Phoenix Coyotes who are tired after playing in St. Louis on Friday. Niklas Backstrom is expected to play on Thursday for the first time in almost a month as he has been out with a groin injury. Justin Falk is also due to return on Thursday after a 10 game absence with a knee injury making Kurtis Foster a healthy scratch. Jason Zucker has agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild and is expectd to make his NHL debut on Thursday. Matt Cullen is gone for the season after undergoing surgery on a broken finger.

MONTREAL

Games this week

vs. Tampa Bay, @ Carolina, vs. Toronto

Notes

The Canadiens are tired on Thursday when they are in Carolina after playing the Lightning on Wednesday. They fired GM Pierre Gauthier on Thursday and Bob Gainey also left the team. The Habs are 15th and last in the Eastern Conference and have little in their farm system so the new General Manager will have plenty to do to bring the Canadiens back to respectability. Erik Cole scored his 31st of the season on Tuesday, a new career high for the veteran forward. Louis Leblanc has been moved to the second line with Tomas Plekanec and Rene Bourque and hopefully the former first round pick will be able to excel as a top-six forward.

NASHVILLE

Games this week

vs. Minnesota, vs. Dallas, @ Colorado

Notes

Roman Josi is slated to return to action on Friday after missing nine games with an upper body injury. Jordin Tootoo is also expected to return on Friday after missing a couple of games with an upper body injury believed to be to his head. It’ll be quite a night for the Predators as Martin Erat is also expected to return after missing two games with an upper body injury. Alexander Radulov is seeing a lot of ice time (22:50 minutes on Tuesday) as he gets re-acclimated to the North American game after playing in the KHL the last four years. Coach Barry Trotz is at 499 career NHL wins.

NEW JERSEY

Games this week

vs. New York Islanders, @ Detroit, vs. Ottawa

Notes

New Jersey are rested Thursday when they take on Detroit as the Red Wings are in St. Louis Wednesday. Travis Zajac is ready to return from his Achilles Tendon injury and is practicing between Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk, moving Adam Henrique down to the third line. Adam Larsson has been a healthy scratch the last two games. It was the first time this season that the rookie defenseman has missed a game because of a coach’s decision. Petr Sykora has been demoted to the fourth line after playing most of the season on the second unit as coach Peter DeBoer is looking to get Ryan Carter and Steve Bernier going.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Games this week

@ New Jersey, vs. Winnipeg, @ Columbus

Notes

Evgeni Nabokov is day-to-day with a lower body injury but may be gone for the season. The Islanders signed John Grahame to a pro-rated contract to back up Al Montoya the rest of the way. Rick DiPietro has been skating the last month by himself as he recovers from a sports hernia. Matt Martin leads the NHL with 349 credited hits this season and when you add in his 109 penalty minutes, he has lots of value in pools that use both stats. It looks like P.A. Parenteau and his agent are going to start contract negotiations with the Islanders as he would like to remain on Long Island and not become an unrestricted free agent.

NEW YORK RANGERS

Games this week

@ Philadelphia, @ Pittsburgh, vs. Washington

Notes

Anton Stralman took over on the blueline from Tim Erixon and as a result Erixon was sent to the minors on Thursday. Steve Eminger has missed the last eight games with a sprained ankle. Mats Zuccarello, a recent callup, broke his wrist and had surgery to fix it. He is out indefinitely. Brandon Dubinsky has only nine goals and 31 points this season but his 108 penalty minutes and plus-16 rating give him value in traditional pools. Marian Gaborik leads the Rangers with 38 goals and 71 points.

OTTAWA

Games this week

vs. Carolina, vs. Boston, @ New Jersey

Notes

Goaltender Ben Bishop should be out the remainder of the regular season with a lower body injury allowing Craig Anderson and Alexander Auld to remain the starter and backup respectively. Jesse Winchester is expected to be back in the lineup for the weekend of March 31 as he has been out since December 20 with a concussion. Daniel Alfredsson has four goals and six points in his last two games and now has 56 points in 71 games.

It’s the last column for The Week Ahead for the 2011-12 season and I want to thank all my readers for taking the time to read and for all the feedback I received.

It has been a very interesting season, especially with the usual great races for a playoff spot, mostly in the Western Conference where heading into Friday’s action, the top four teams are separated by only one point.

There have been a lot of major injuries this season with concussions at the forefront of every conversation. It’s great that Sidney Crosby is back in action but it’s sad that it appears that Marc Savard, who was unable to play even once this season, and Chris Pronger’s respective careers may be over.

Every team plays on Saturday, the end of the NHL schedule.

Thanks once again for reading and I’m already looking forward to next season.

The Ducks are in Western Canada for all three games this week. Jonas Hiller became the first Anaheim Duck to play in 70 games between the pipes in one season. Bobby Ryan is heating up at the right time for fantasy players as he has five points in his last four games, and right at the time most fantasy leagues are in playoff mode. Lubomir Visnovsky scored on Sunday and it was his first goal in 29 games. Teemu Selanne could return for one more season. He passed Luc Robitaille for fourth place in career power play goals and is only one behind Phil Esposito.

BOSTON

Games this week

vs. Pittsburgh, @ Ottawa, vs. Buffalo

Notes

If you like the Bruins to go far in the playoffs, Rich Peverley will make a great mid-round pick. He is now playing the point on the first power play and is on the first line with David Krejci and Milan Lucic. He has only 39 points in 51 games so he is definitely flying below the radar. Brian Rolston has been rejuvenated since his trade deadline deal to Boston. The veteran has a seven game scoring streak in which he has 12 points. Tuukka Rask (abdomen/groin) looks like he will be ready to backup Tim Thomas in the playoffs. It does not look good for a return this season of Nathan Horton who has missed 23 games thus far with a concussion and he is not close to returning to action.

BUFFALO

Games this week

vs. Toronto, @ Phladelphia, @ Boston

Notes

The Sabres play the second half of a home-and-home series with the Maple Leafs on Tuesday so expect to see Patrick Kaleta to add to his minutes total. Christian Ehrhoff is out with a knee injury suffered on Tuesday and there is no word on when he will return. Ryan Miller has been the reason of late that the Sabres are challenging for a playoff spot as he is 14-1-3 since February 19. He was the NHL’s second star of the week for the week ending March 25. Marcus Foligno has had a great start to his NHL career as he scored six times in his first nine games. Of the current NHLers, only Teemu Selanne (8), Evgeni Malkin (8), Devin Setoguchi (7), Ilya Kovalchuk (6) and Alex Ovechkin (6) have had as good or better starts to their careers.

CALGARY

Games this week

vs. Vancouver, vs. Anaheim

Notes

The Flames only play twice this week so I recommend benching all your Flames with the exception of Jarome Iginla in weekly transaction pools. That being said, Iginla has not scored in his last seven games. The wear and tear of a long season could be getting to Flames who are 1-2-3 in their last six games. You cannot blame Miikka Kiprusoff who has kicked out 154 of 168 shots in the six contests. Curtis Glencross has also been slumping as he has gone nine straight games without a goal. Michael Cammalleri is centering Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay on the top line.

CAROLINA

Games this week

@ Ottawa, vs. Montreal, @ Florida

Notes

The Hurricanes are rested Thursday when they take on a tired Montreal team who play Tampa Bay the night before. After struggling through the first half of the season, Cam Ward has been outstanding since the start of the New Year. Eric Staal was minus-18 in his first 19 games of the season but has rebounded as he has been a plus-three in his last 58 games. He still however, has the worst plus-minus on the Hurricanes. After being at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings all season, Carolina has played very well of late and are now 12th.

CHICAGO

Games this week

@ Minnesota, @ Detroit

Notes

Chicago plays the Wild for the second game in a row on Thursday so look for . Duncan Keith is due to return on April 5 from his five game suspension for his hit on Daniel Sedin that has caused Sedin to be out with a concussion. Patrick Kane has had plenty of trouble on the draw as he has won only 41.7 percent of his faceoffs. The Blackhawks are getting healthier as Marcus Kruger and Steve Montador are back from concussions and Ray Emery returned on Thursday after being out with an upper body injury. There is still no timetable for the return of the concussed Jonathan Toews who has been skating for over a week although he is hoping to return on Thursday.

COLORADO

Games this week

vs. Columbus, vs. Nashville

Notes

The Avalanche play only twice this week so you should bench all your Colorado players in weekly pools if you have better options. Good news for the front office personnel as Avalanche coach Joe Sacco and GM Greg Sherman will reportedly stay with Colorado for the 2012-13 campaign. This could be the last week in his Colorado career for veteran Milan Hejduk who has really struggled in the second half of the season as he has no goals and only three assists in his last 22 games. Matt Duchene is having a tough time in his third NHL season as he was benched last week and played less than 15 minutes in his next game on the third line.

COLUMBUS

Games this week

@ Phoenix, @ Colorado, vs. New York Islanders

Notes

Thankfully, this sorry season is coming to a conclusion with Saturday’s game against the Islanders. The Blue Jackets have the best chance at getting the number one overall pick but they may trade it away as they have not had any luck selecting Russians in the first round (Nikolayi Zherdev and Nikita Filitov) and the best two prospects are Russian in Nail Yakupov and Mikhail Grigorenko. Derick Brassard has 21 points in his last 28 games so it looks like the former first round pick has finally come of age as an NHLer. Boone Jenner, the 37th pick last season, has signed a three-year entry level deal. James Wisniewski is not skating and it appears that the concussion has sidelined him for the remainder of the season.

DALLAS

Games this week

vs. San Jose, @ Nashville, vs. St. Louis

Notes

The Stars play the Sharks in the back half of a home-and-home series so look for Steve Ott and Brenden Morrow to add to their penalty minute totals if there are any fights. They are rested on Saturday when they face a tired St. Louis team who are home to Phoenix on Friday. Loui Eriksson is having another solid season with 26 goals, 70 points and a plus-20 rating. Michael Ryder has also been very good with 35 goals and a plus-22 rating. Kari Lehtonen has excelled since a trade from Atlanta as he is 32-18-4 this season with a 2.26 GAA and a .924 save percentage. Alex Goligoski has been a bit of a disappointment this season with only eight goals and 28 points in 66 games.

DETROIT

Games this week

@ St. Louis, vs. New Jersey, vs. Chicago

Notesl

Detroit plays three times in four nights so look for Jimmy Howard to get a night off with Ty Conklin getting the other start. They are tired on Thursday facing a rested New Jersey team after playing in St. Louis the night before. Howard was out with a groin injury but was expected to return on Friday March 30. The Red Wings got Jonathan Ericsson back Wednesday after he missed almost five weeks of action with a fractured wrist. Johan Franzen also returned to the lineup on Wednesday after missing four games with back spasms. Tomas Holmstrom broke a 28 game goalless streak on Monday when he potted a pair of goals.

Kris Versteeg was among the scoring leaders early in the season but has had only one assist in his last 12 games to give him 22 goals and 49 points in 65 games. Tomas Fleischmann leads the Panthers in goals with 24 and points with 56, one point ahead of linemate Stephen Weiss. Erik Gundbranson is a team worst minus-18, but look for the rookie to have plenty of good seasons in his future. Jose Theodore has been terrific for the Panthers this season with a 22-14-9 record, a .921 save percentage and a 2.35 GAA. Former second round pick Drew Shore has signed an entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers.

LOS ANGELES

Games this week

vs. Edmonton, vs. San Jose, @ San Jose

Notes

The Kings finish the season with a home-and-home series with the Sharks. Things could get rough so look for Kyle Clfford and Mike Richards to get some penalty minutes. Justin Williams has continued his hot play of late with nine points in his last nine games. Los Angeles GM Dean Lombardi doesn’t think that Simon Gagne will return this season from a concussion suffered in late December. In the topsy-turvy Pacific division the Kings went from third to ninth with a loss to the Bruins and then to seventh when they shut out the Flames on Wednesday. Jeff Carter is out with an ankle injury. Both he and Mike Richards are in slumps with neither scoring in the last four games.

MINNESOTA

Games this week

@ Nashville, vs. Chicago, vs. Phoenix

Notes

The Wild are rested on Saturday when they take on the Phoenix Coyotes who are tired after playing in St. Louis on Friday. Niklas Backstrom is expected to play on Thursday for the first time in almost a month as he has been out with a groin injury. Justin Falk is also due to return on Thursday after a 10 game absence with a knee injury making Kurtis Foster a healthy scratch. Jason Zucker has agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild and is expectd to make his NHL debut on Thursday. Matt Cullen is gone for the season after undergoing surgery on a broken finger.

MONTREAL

Games this week

vs. Tampa Bay, @ Carolina, vs. Toronto

Notes

The Canadiens are tired on Thursday when they are in Carolina after playing the Lightning on Wednesday. They fired GM Pierre Gauthier on Thursday and Bob Gainey also left the team. The Habs are 15th and last in the Eastern Conference and have little in their farm system so the new General Manager will have plenty to do to bring the Canadiens back to respectability. Erik Cole scored his 31st of the season on Tuesday, a new career high for the veteran forward. Louis Leblanc has been moved to the second line with Tomas Plekanec and Rene Bourque and hopefully the former first round pick will be able to excel as a top-six forward.

NASHVILLE

Games this week

vs. Minnesota, vs. Dallas, @ Colorado

Notes

Roman Josi is slated to return to action on Friday after missing nine games with an upper body injury. Jordin Tootoo is also expected to return on Friday after missing a couple of games with an upper body injury believed to be to his head. It’ll be quite a night for the Predators as Martin Erat is also expected to return after missing two games with an upper body injury. Alexander Radulov is seeing a lot of ice time (22:50 minutes on Tuesday) as he gets re-acclimated to the North American game after playing in the KHL the last four years. Coach Barry Trotz is at 499 career NHL wins.

NEW JERSEY

Games this week

vs. New York Islanders, @ Detroit, vs. Ottawa

Notes

New Jersey are rested Thursday when they take on Detroit as the Red Wings are in St. Louis Wednesday. Travis Zajac is ready to return from his Achilles Tendon injury and is practicing between Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk, moving Adam Henrique down to the third line. Adam Larsson has been a healthy scratch the last two games. It was the first time this season that the rookie defenseman has missed a game because of a coach’s decision. Petr Sykora has been demoted to the fourth line after playing most of the season on the second unit as coach Peter DeBoer is looking to get Ryan Carter and Steve Bernier going.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Games this week

@ New Jersey, vs. Winnipeg, @ Columbus

Notes

Evgeni Nabokov is day-to-day with a lower body injury but may be gone for the season. The Islanders signed John Grahame to a pro-rated contract to back up Al Montoya the rest of the way. Rick DiPietro has been skating the last month by himself as he recovers from a sports hernia. Matt Martin leads the NHL with 349 credited hits this season and when you add in his 109 penalty minutes, he has lots of value in pools that use both stats. It looks like P.A. Parenteau and his agent are going to start contract negotiations with the Islanders as he would like to remain on Long Island and not become an unrestricted free agent.

NEW YORK RANGERS

Games this week

@ Philadelphia, @ Pittsburgh, vs. Washington

Notes

Anton Stralman took over on the blueline from Tim Erixon and as a result Erixon was sent to the minors on Thursday. Steve Eminger has missed the last eight games with a sprained ankle. Mats Zuccarello, a recent callup, broke his wrist and had surgery to fix it. He is out indefinitely. Brandon Dubinsky has only nine goals and 31 points this season but his 108 penalty minutes and plus-16 rating give him value in traditional pools. Marian Gaborik leads the Rangers with 38 goals and 71 points.

OTTAWA

Games this week

vs. Carolina, vs. Boston, @ New Jersey

Notes

Goaltender Ben Bishop should be out the remainder of the regular season with a lower body injury allowing Craig Anderson and Alexander Auld to remain the starter and backup respectively. Jesse Winchester is expected to be back in the lineup for the weekend of March 31 as he has been out since December 20 with a concussion. Daniel Alfredsson has four goals and six points in his last two games and now has 56 points in 71 games.

PHILADELPHIA

Games this week

vs. New York Rangers, vs. Buffalo, @ Pittsburgh

Notes

Ilya Bryzgalov suffered a small chip fracture in his right foot and is day-to-day although we wouldn’t be surprised if he sat out until the playoffs to give him extra time to rest the injury. Kimmo Timonen suffered an upper body injury and is day-to-day. He missed five games in early March with a bad back. The Flyers recalled Marc-Andre Bourdon to replace him in the lineup. Claude Giroux is third in the NHL in points with 86 and is second behind only Henrik Sedin with 59 assists.

PHOENIX

Games this week

vs. Columbus, @ St. Louis, @ Minnesota

Notes

The Coyotes are tired on Saturday when they play a rested Minnesota team as Phoenix takes on the Blues in St. Louis on Friday. Radim Vrbata scored on Thursday for the first time since Feb. 21. Raffi Torres has been torrid of late in the goal scoring department with six goals in his last 12 games. Shane Doan returned this past week after serving his three game suspension. Derek Morris played in his 1,000 NHL game. The Coyotes inked University of Michigan center Chris Brown, a second round pick in 2009, to a three-year, entry-level deal.

PITTSBURGH

Games this week

@ Boston, vs. New York Rangers, vs. Philadelphia

Notes

Evgeni Malkin became the first NHLer to hit the 100 point mark this season and has a nine point lead on runner up Steve Stamkos. James Neal is also having a special year with 37 goals, 16 on the power play, 78 points and 80 penalty minutes. He is a true fantasy stud. Kris Letang may return to action this week after suffering a lower body injury. Brent Johnson is finally back after missing over a month of action with a knee injury. Brad Thiessen was returned to the minors. Ben Lovejoy is out three-four weeks after undergoing knee surgery.

ST. LOUIS

Games this week

vs. Detroit, vs. Phoenix, @ Dallas

Notes

The Blues play three games in four nights this week and you should be able to determine who is starting the playoffs in net by who plays two out of three games, Jaroslav Halak or Brian Elliott. The Blues are tired on Saturday when they take on a rested Dallas squad after St. Louis hosts the Coyotes on Friday night. Andy McDonald is scheduled to return to action on March 31 after missing six games with a shoulder injury. Keep an eye on David Perron for next season he has 39 points in 53 games this year after missing 13 months with a concussion. Ken Hitchcock has hinted that Jaroslav Halak will be the St. Louis Blues' starting goaltender in the playoffs, but Brian Elliott certainly has given the coach something to think about. Either way, the Blues will have excellent goaltending in the post-season.

SAN JOSE

Games this week

@ Dallas, @ Los Angeles, vs. Los Angeles

Notes

The Sharks end the season playing the back-half of a home-and-home series against Dallas and then finish the season by playing a couple against the Kings. Look for Brad Winchester and Ryane Clowe to add to their penalty minute totals. T.J. Galiardi returned to action on Wednesday after missing six games with a back injury. Logan Couture has 30 goals to lead the Sharks but has not found the back of the net in eight games. The Sharks are in tough to make the playoffs as only one point separates the top four teams in their division.

TAMPA BAY

Games this week

vs. Washington, @ Montreal, @ Toronto, @ Winnipeg

Notes

The Lightning play four times this week (the only NHL team to do so) including three games in four nights so look for Dwayne Roloson and Sebastien Caron to share the net. They are tired Thursday when they face the Maple Leafs in Toronto after having played in Montreal on Wednesday. Steve Stamkos now has 55 goals this season and since he leads Evgeni Malkin by eight goals with less than 10 days to go in the season, it appears that he will have his name engraved on the Rocket Richard Trophy for the second time in three seasons.

TORONTO

Games this week

@ Buffalo, vs. Tampa Bay, @ Montreal

Notes

The floundering Maple Leafs will play the back half of a home-and-home series against the Sabres, so look for Jay Rosehill and Dion Phaneuf to add to their penalty minute count if there are fisticuffs. James Reimer could be gone for the season as he is having a possible recurrence of his concussion-like symptoms that kept him out of the lineup for six weeks earlier in the season. The Maple Leafs signed undrafted Spencer Abbott (no relation to our Corey) to an entry level deal and hope they have inked someone special as he is one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award.

VANCOUVER

Games this week

vs. Anaheim, @ Calgary, vs. Edmonton

Notes

The big news is that Daniel Sedin is going to be back for the start of the playoffs at least according to GM Mike Gillis who says that Sedin is progressing well from his concussion. The Canucks are not getting production from some of their top-six players as Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows have not picked up a point in their last seven games while David Booth is pointless in six. They have won four in a row despite the lack of scoring from their big guns since the Sedin injury. Dan Hamhuis leads all Canucks with a plus-24 rating. Andrew Ebbett (broken collarbone) could return this week after being out since Janaury.

WASHINGTON

Games this week

@ Tampa Bay, vs. Florida, @ New York Rangers

Notes

Tomas Vokoun left Thursday’s game after suffering a lower body injury. This was after returning from a groin injury. Nicklas Backstrom could finally return this week after being out since early January with a concussion. He has been sorely missed. It has not been a good year for Alex Ovechkin and his fantasy owners. He has 36 goals and only 63 points and is a minus-eight this season. Alexander Semin could be playing his final games for the Capitals as he is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

WINNIPEG

Games this week

@ Florida, @ New York Islanders, vs. Tampa Bay

Notes

There is no timetable for the return of Eric Fehr who has missed the last six games with an upper body injury. The Jets top line of Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little and Andrew Ladd were a combined minus-11 Monday with the latter two minus-four apiece. Evander Kane is only one goal shy of 30 this season. Spencer Machacek has two goals and seven points in his last five games. Dustin Byfuglien has 11 goals and 47 points in only 61 games this season and has chipped in with 68 penalty minutes